Arguably one of the most impressive aspects of the Dead Space franchise is the atmosphere felt while exploring the Necromorph infested settings. Dead Space: Liberation, the graphic novel prequel to Visceral Game’s Dead Space 3, captures this atmosphere perfectly, with art so unique, at times, I forgot I was reading a comic. Christopher Shy, does an amazing job at capturing the atmosphere of Dead Space in a style which looks far from the game, yet still has the same melancholy, mysterious, and morbid feel established throughout the franchise.

Unfortunately, as jaw dropping as the art can be at times, certain segments, notably the action-heavy scenes, tend to be difficult to follow. There were times when I had no idea what a particular panel was trying to show.

Liberation serves as a direct prequel to the third installment of the Dead Space franchise and, as such, introduces readers to the new characters seen in the game. Overall, this is a story about John Carver (the added co-op character in 3), and how he is thrust into the main story. His tough-guy outside is paired with a tragic, self-hating inside, which makes Carver’s attitude seen in the game much more understandable.

Over the course of the book, however, writer Ian Edginton does little more than introduce these new faces seen in Dead Space 3. The events here are explained early on in the game, so unless you want more character exposure, this story is not a necessity.

I’m not going to start this with some lame cliche like, “Are games art.” This is not a “ten reasons why games are art” list. This is not a critique on modern computer entertainment and how it has shaped a generation. This isn’t an argument for games being art, but more an explanation as to why many things you might not have considered to be art, just might be; a baseline look at art itself, and frankly, why video games are not that different than anything else out there. The fact of the matter is, (SPOILERS) yes, games are art. They always have been, and they always will be. The problem is that the discussion of “Are games art,” has been inherently pointless from the start.

To give a solid, objective definition of art is impossible, because art itself is ever changing, and more importantly, subjective. What might be art to one person, could just be a pile of rocks or a bunch of noise to someone else. There has never been some list of qualifications that something needs to meet before it can be considered art. If you looked up from your computer screen right now, took the first thing you saw, and asked everyone in the world it that thing was art, someone undoubtedly would say, “yes.”

In grade school, we all took art classes, in which we were taught to draw, paint, and work with clay. From as young as we can remember, this is how we saw art, taking physical materials and mending and molding them into new form. Why wasn’t music or poetry included in this class. Surely they too are forms of art? This is the issue, we were taught that art is some physical creation with colors and fancy shapes. But it has to be more, right?

In Scott McCloud’s book, Understanding Comics, he describes art as something that does not “grow out of either of our species’ two basic instincts: survival and reproduction.” So essentially, everything other than eating, breathing, and sex is art. But then, couldn’t you argue that sex can be artful. Those in the pornography industry would be offended if you said their work was less of an art form then the rest of the film industry. The crafting of a tool necessary for survival, depending on the result, could also be considered art. Even this most basic definition of art, which encompasses nearly all human actions, can be questioned. And reading McCloud’s book is what really got me thinking about what art is, and video games might fit that category. It’s all in the eye of the beholder.

Personally, I see art as any action, process, or style, in which an individual has used his or her own style or approach to reach a final result. The art is not the painting, but the way in which it was painted. Van Gogh clearly has a different style of painting compared to Da Vinci. Coldplay clearly has a different musical style than Bob Dylan. Art is the realization and the interpretation of the differences in these styles.

The issue in accepting this definition may be in the fact that as individuals in this modern society, we are ignorant to most forms of art around us. From architecture, to cooking, to sports, everything can be made to be art, so long as people take individual approaches and develop styles. Many may not see the artistry of a quarterback in football, but every quarterback undoubtedly has his own style in playing the sport. If you were to take the most devoted football fans and show them silhouettes of Tom Brady and Bret Favre passing a football, they could quickly determine who was who, because they’ve studied the art form and know the styles of different artist in this medium. Just like architects have studied the medium and can tell the difference between Frank Lloyd Wright and Albert Kahn, I can tell the difference between Aerosmith, The Rolling Stones, and Rush, and Greg Miller can tell the difference between a Portillo’s hotdog and a Ball Park Frank.

Video games are no different. To an outsider, Call of Duty looks the same as Skyrim. Those of us who have studied, and spent countless hours enjoying the medium of video games, however, can absolutely tell the differences. We know why Mario and Sonic are different, and we can explain why, as an individual, we might enjoy Grand Them Auto: Vice City over Grand Theft Auto: IV. We can tell the difference between a Nintendo game and a Naughty Dog game. It’s all in the style of the game.

Even the way games are played is art. Whether choosing to be good or evil in Infamous, or whether we choose to be more Aggressive or Calm in The Walking Dead: The Game, or whether to rush through a level of Mario or get every power up and stomp on every Goomba. Fighting games display some of the most impressive artist in game play. What’s the difference between someone who has practiced countless hours with Ryu in Street Fighter and someone who spends days on end behind an easel with paint. Both artists develop a unique style in their practicing and, when the time comes to display their skills, they display pure art.

When we take the time to realize that, no matter what the medium we view there are different approaches to reach vastly different results, we can realize that art is more then paint on paper, but instead, is the way paint is put on paper, or the way a football is thrown, or the way a game is made.

This is a mantra of IGN’s Podcast Beyond, an expression of the changing tides we can see right now in gaming. But on the flip side, it serves as a warning to all retail game shops. They’re running out of time. So, how does GameStop respond? Give the customer hundreds of enticing bonuses that will improve his or her gaming experience. It’s a trap almost every gamer has fallen into at some point.

But let’s be honest for a moment, if you’re reading this, then this issue probably does not apply. You and I are dialed into the industry enough to understand the workings of exclusive content in modern games. We know what we are getting into. This content either has little value (weak, cool looking, weapons, skins, etc.), or will be available at some point via DLC (most likely both).

But for little Timmy O'Toole walking through Target or GameStop, he has no idea what he's just walked into. Pressured by preorder bonuses, Call of Duty Elite services, and the allure of a used game, Timmy has no help but to succumb to the forces of GameStop.

We are reaching a point where the way in which you purchase a game, be it pre-order, online, in store, new, used, whatever, gamers each end up with a slightly different experience.

Buy new and you receive a perfect, albeit more expensive, disk, never touched by human hands. Buy used and you get a cheaper, still working disk. Sounds fair, but now you need an online pass if you want to play with your friends. So now you’ve paid ten dollars less for a game, just to pay ten more dollars to play online. Not so fair.

Pre-order bonuses, on the other hand, are something very specific to video games, and only add to the problem of misunderstanding in retail. Pre-order ModNation Racers from GameStop, get Kratos, from Amazon, get Ratchet and Clank, from Best Buy, get Nathan Drake. It’s all so enticing, making the choice all the more difficult, but how crucial are these bonuses, anyway? Isn’t the point of ModNation Racers to make your own characters and karts? Why would I want to play as Kratos, when I can make my very own Darth Vader, or Ronald McDonald, and have the pride of showing friends and enemies on the race track? These pre-order bonuses are distracting from the true purpose of the game.

In writing this, I’m realizing that this isn't a very new trend. Heck, Pokémon has been doing this since day one. Buy one version, get these monsters, buy the other version, and get these different monsters. I remember the guilt I felt when I was told the truth.

“You’re telling me I can’t have a Sandshrew because I bought the Red version instead of Blue?” But I was ok with this, because I was naïve.

“Oh, but if I buy Blue, or trade with my friend, I can get my Sandshrew? Ok, that seems fair enough.”

This was such a new concept that we just let it slide. How could we know what exclusive content would turn into? Pre-order bonuses at the time were merely beanies with a game characters stitched on the front, and the promise of DCL and additional game add-ons was unfathomable.

But eventually, it all came to this, and just like with Pokémon, we have to jump through a myriad of hoops to simply get all of the content for our games. Now, instead of a free hat, we can get free levels. We can get actual game content. It’s all so exciting. Exciting, to those who give in. But for those who don’t preorder, we miss out.

That same guilt I felt back with Pokémon was felt again when I bought Assassins Creed III at my local GameStop. The man behind the counter asked if I had a pre-order.

I said, “Nope, I don’t preorder games.”

He followed with the remark, “You know, you’re missing out on a lot of free content.” For a moment, I felt cheated, but I realized I was only missing out on a sword and one mission.

“Oh well, ” I responded.

He followed by asking if I wanted to make any pre-orders. I was disgusted. He LITERALLY tried to guilt me into pre-ordering a game. I understood what was going on, but little Timmy O’Toole in line behind me wouldn’t. He can’t miss out on a chance for a free Call of Duty map! So, at the expense of a naïve child, GameStop wins again.

But let’s not put all of the blame on retail, because we have plenty of other pressure elsewhere. So let’s look at Assassins Creed III again.

Assassins Creed III on PS3 comes with four exclusive missions. This is great, right? More content for PS3. But no, to those unknowing customers, this is a tiny slap in the face to both PS3 gamers, and Xbox/ PC gamers.

These extra four missions clearly have little, if any, impact on the story, or they would be included in every version of the game. So for average PS3 owners, one is promised this grand extra content, which will have little true value, and may even be skipped as an afterthought. And to an average Xbox gamer, one might feel cheated out of important content. Console manufacturers, Sony in this case, are simply trying to entice gamers to purchase for their console in whatever means necessary. I want so bad to play Halo 4, but the current condition of the industry won’t allow that, unless I buy and Xbox or PC. As a college student, that’s simply out of the question.

Now, I’m not trying to uncover some great controversy. I understand fully and can sympathize with Sony. It’s business, and it’s totally acceptable.

This will all go away soon though. It’s inevitable that digital downloads will eventually take over retail in total sales of video games. Along with a fully digital landscape, it’s believed that Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo will all become solely game developers, paving the way for a unified console, for all gamers to enjoy. This will not happen next generation, but possibly after that. This means that GameStop and the console manufactures have, what, maybe ten years left in retail? So they responds to this threat by milking each and every aspect of the industry while they can, until their inevitable fall in retail comes. They are gasping for air, until they finally sink.